Mac help - how do I reset my displays?

[NewJeffCT]

For some unknown reason, my wife let my 3 year old daughter play with our iMac computer all by herself. Now, the whole screen is a garish neon color and I can barely read any text. Everything looks warped. I have no fucking clue how to reset the appearance/display/desktop back to its default settings.

Can anybody help me out?

Thanks

[Ava]

1. maybe this guy can help you

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6553260189868317794

:rofl:

sorry, had to post it.

[NewJeffCT]

6. I've had few problems with it until now

It's actually been great when it comes to not crashing or locking up... certainly better than a PC.

It's just that a lot of things are really counter-intuitive.

[lavenderdiva]

2. my husband, who is familiar with apple computers says to

go to www.apple.com/support then click on 'discussions'.

[NewJeffCT]

4. grr

they don't recognize my serial number, so now I have to go out to Kinko's & scan my proof of purchase (after I find my proof of purchase!) and then put it in a file & email it to apple.

I thought Macs were supposed to be user-friendly?

Grr.

[lavenderdiva]

7. grrrr.... indeed!

husband is taking a nap, so my next best suggestion is to try the DU Computer help forum:

go here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=242

there's a lot of very knowledgeable people there, both PC's and Macs. Good luck!

[lavenderdiva]

8. hubby just woke up,

and says you don't need your serial number to go on the apple discussion board. I don't know, as I am a confirmed PC user...

[NewJeffCT]

9. Thanks

I was trying to get into the chat session they had, but need a s/n for that.

[NewJeffCT]

34. no responses there yet

and i've gotten a ton on here so far. I guess all the mac users are in the Lounge today?

[targetpractice]

3. Press Apple-Option-Contol-8 at the same time

Did that help?

[NewJeffCT]

5. nope

all it did was turn the screen from neon blue to a neon lava color.

[riona]

10. Did you try

clicking "System Preferences", then click "Display," Click Geometry tab and Factory Defaults?
Listen, if worse comes to worse, put in your Tiger disk, click restart, hold down "c" key after the startup chime. Once it is booted, click the File menu and select "Disk Utility" from the File menu You aren't "installing"). Then select your hard drive on the left, and click "First Aid" tab. Click "Repair Disk." Let that run through and if you wish, do it a second time. Quit "Disk Utility" and "Install." Restart computer. Remove disk after.

[NewJeffCT]

11. I don't see a Geometry tab

When I go to System Preferences & Display, I don't see any tab for Geometry - but, I can barely read anything on the screen.

[riona]

13. If you can't read anything,

maybe you had better do the Hard Disk Repair I mentioned. Have you ever done it? It's a good maintenance thing. Also, every time I have had to call support, we always end up doing this.

[riona]

19. By the way, did you try logging out and then loggin in

as another account to see if the display is gone there too? Also, did you try totally shutting down?

[NewJeffCT]

20. Only have 1 account

and yes, having used PCs for 15 or so years, it's still my natural instinct to first restart a computer & then shut it down & repower up whenever there is a problem

[NewJeffCT]

12. Also, I already tried a repair

It wasn't with the OS X cd in the drive, but there was some sort of repair utility that I used. nothing happened.

[riona]

14. You have to put your disk in

I had to buy Tiger so, I use the Mac OSX Tiger Install DVD. Try it with your disk - as I said, it's good to do this once in awhile anyway. Don't forget - you are repairing, not installing.

[NewJeffCT]

15. grrr

I held down the "C" key and it's asking me all sorts of install questions now.

[NewJeffCT]

17. when i did that, it goes into

Preparing installation...

[NewJeffCT]

21. I tried it and got no option for "Disk Utility"

When booting up, I got the chime sound then held down "c" until the install menu came up... it gave me the option of selecting to boot up from Network, OS X 10.4 (from the Disk) and also OS X 10.6 (from hard drive)

[begin_within]

16. What version of the Mac OS are you running? Go to the apple in the upper

left, choose either "About this Macintosh" or "About this Mac" and a window will open which tells you what version is running.

[NewJeffCT]

18. OS X

my DVD/CD says Mac OS X v10.4

I've had the PC since late November 2005 and it was brand new then.

if I check my HD, it says something like 10.6

[begin_within]

36. I would try this first...

Click on the apple in the upper left.
Choose "System preferences."
Click on the "Show All" icon.
Under "Personal," click on "Appearance"
Next to "Appearance," choose either "Blue" or "Graphite," whichever you prefer.
Click on the "Show All" icon again.
Under "Personal," click on "Desktop & Screen saver."
Choose a desktop color or pattern. I happen to think solid colors are less distracting, and the "Solid grey dark" is the best. But that's your preference.
Click on the "System Preferences" menu and choose "Quit System Preferences."
If this doesn't fix it, you may have to re-install your system software.

[riona]

22. Like I said, Apple support always

makes me put the (in your case #1 Install Disk) Tiger Disk, hold down c, and ignoring the install stuff, click on the File Menu at the top, and then click Disk Utility, Hard Drive on the left and the First Aid Tab, followed by clicking on Repair the Disk (bottom). When done click to quit these.

As for the account thing, what they taught me was to open a brand new account - I call it "test" and then I can see a "virgin" account with no added software etc. As administrator I can get rid of the account later.

[NewJeffCT]

23. how do I ignore the install stuff?

it doesn't seem to allow me to do that.

[riona]

24. Go to the File Menu at the top of the screen

[NewJeffCT]

26. yes, I'm not that computer-illiterate

There was no option for that under "File"

[riona]

28. I don't know what you're seeing

do you want me to call you and run through it - I'll do mine at the same time. You probably know more than I do - maybe there's something different we are seeing.

[NewJeffCT]

30. I PM'd you my phone number

thanks for your help

[NewJeffCT]

29. there was a repair option under "utilities"

When I ran that, it said no repairs were necessary.

[targetpractice]

25. When you booted with the CD...

...did the display look okay? If the display was messed up still, it could be a hardware problem.

[NewJeffCT]

27. the display initially looked fine

but, then as soon as the boot is done, it goes back to all crazy.

[targetpractice]

31. Sounds like your display preferences for your user account are messed up..

I suggest...

1) Go to the Apple Menu (upper left)
2) Choose "System Preferences..."
3) Choose "Displays"
4) Choose the "Color" tab at the top
5) Make sure the correct "Display Profile" is chosen on the left, in your case it should be something like "iMac Display"

Also, in your original post... you said things looked "warped." Can you clarify? Is it just that the colors are messed up? Or is the display distorted in some other way?

[NewJeffCT]

32. already tried that

when I select iMac display, nothing happens

[NewJeffCT]

33. yes, the display is distorted

I know how to fix that on a PC, but I don't seem to have the same options with a Mac.

[targetpractice]

35. Distorted in what way?

I can't tell what problem you are having based on your description. LCD displays don't have the same types of distortion issues that CRT displays have... I'm assuming you are talking about a recent iMac with built in LCD.

It's definitely something with your account, though. Otherwise you wouldn't see a normal display during the boot process.

[NewJeffCT]

37. I got the answer

I had to go into System Preferences
Then Universal Access
Then Seeing
Then Display
And, I adjusted the contrast from there.

It still doesn't look quite right, however.

[targetpractice]

38. Universall Access options are often activated...

...by accidently pressing certain key combinations. A three year old at the keyboard will certainly find those key combinations. ;-)

[riona]

39. it's me again

his whole thing has me curious - have you ever calibrated your display? Or have you ever used your color sync utility?

[NewJeffCT]

40. yes

I used the color sync utility when trying to resolve the problem.

[riona]

41. I've sometimes cleared up color problems

going into system preferences, clicking on Display, then choosing the color tab, then clicking on Calibrate, checking Expert Mode box, and following the instructions.